Method for surface treating a golf club head

ABSTRACT

A method for surface treating a golf club head, includes: (a) forming a depression unit in the golf club head, the depression unit being indented inwardly from an outer surface of the golf club head, the outer surface being divided into a working area and a non-working area, the depression unit being formed in the working area; (b) filling the depression unit with a shielding material and covering the non-working area with a covering material; and (c) sandblasting the golf club head after step (b) and removing subsequently the shielding material from the depression unit and the covering material from the non-working area so as to form the working area into sandblasted and non-sandblasted regions that differ in gloss intensity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 095135155,filed on Sep. 22, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a method for surface treating a golf club head,more particularly to a method for forming an outer surface of a golfclub head into regions that differ in gloss intensity.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventional methods for enhancing the attractiveness of the outersurface of a golf club head include techniques, such as painting,plating, and physical vapor deposition. However, these conventionalmethods have a relatively high processing cost and a relatively lowproduction yield due to their tendency of forming uneven gloss intensityon the outer surface of the golf club head.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a methodfor treating a surface of a golf club head that can overcome theaforesaid drawbacks associated with the prior art.

Accordingly, a method of this invention for surface treating a golf clubhead comprises: (a) forming a depression unit in the golf club head, thedepression unit being indented inwardly from an outer surface of thegolf club head, the outer surface being divided into a working area anda non-working area, the depression unit being formed in the workingarea; (b) filling the depression unit with a shielding material andcovering the non-working area with a covering material; and (c)sandblasting the golf club head after step (b) and removing subsequentlythe shielding material from the depression unit and the coveringmaterial from the non-working area so as to form the working area intosandblasted and non-sandblasted regions that differ in gloss intensity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the preferredembodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating consecutive steps of the preferredembodiment of a method according to the present invention for surfacetreating a golf club head;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a golf club head in an initial statebefore being surface treated;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the golf club head in a state where adepression unit in the golf club head is shielded with a shieldingmaterial according to the preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the golf club head in a state where aworking area of an outer surface of the golf club head surrounding thedepression unit is sandblasted according to the preferred embodiment ofthis invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the golf club head in a state where theshielding material is removed after the working area of the outersurface of the golf club head is sandblasted according to the preferredembodiment of this invention; and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic views illustrating different patterns of thedepression unit formed on the working area of the outer surface of thegolf club head according to the preferred embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating consecutive steps of the preferredembodiment of a method according to the present invention for surfacetreating a golf club head 10 (see FIG. 2). The method includes the stepsof: (a) forming a depression unit 14 in the golf club head 10 (see FIG.2), the depression unit 14 being indented inwardly from an outer surface12 of the golf club head 10, the outer surface 12 of the golf club head10 being divided into a working area 13 and a non-working area 11, thedepression unit 14 being formed in the working area 13; (b) filling thedepression unit 14 with a shielding material 20 and covering thenon-working area 11 with a covering material 22 (see FIG. 3); and (c)sandblasting the golf club head 10 after step (b) (see FIG. 4) andremoving subsequently the shielding material 20 from the depression unit14 and the covering material 22 from the non-working area 11 (see FIG.5) so as to form the working area 13 of the outer surface 12 intosandblasted and non-sandblasted regions 131, 132 that differ in glossintensity.

Particularly, in this preferred embodiment, the method further includespolishing, plating, and anti-corrosion treating the outer surface 12 ofthe golf club head 10 before step (a) or after step (a) but before step(b). The depression unit 14 can be formed by carving techniques or bymolding techniques.

The shielding material 20 is preferably selected from the groupconsisting of waxes, silicones, resins, gypsum, paints, and plastics. Inthis preferred embodiment, the shielding material 20 is a wax having amelting point ranging from 40 to 60° C.

The covering material is preferably a plastic sheet that can easily wraparound the non-working area 11 of the outer surface 12 of the golf clubhead 10.

In this preferred embodiment, the working area 13 to be sandblasted isthe surface of a striking plate of the golf club head 10. The depressionunit 14 is in the form of parallel line-shaped grooves.

During the shielding operation, a sufficient amount of wax is melted soas to fill the depression unit 14, and is subsequently cooled to becomesolidified.

When wax is used as the shielding material 20, removal of the shieldingmaterial 20 from the depression unit 14 can be conducted using acleaning agent selected from the group consisting of dichloromethane,trichloromethane, chloroform, acetone, pentane, and pentanone.Preferably, the cleaning agent suitable for removing the shieldingmaterial 20 is dichloromethane. In addition, the cleaning operation ispreferably conducted using a ultrasound cleaning equipment.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate different patterns of the depression unit 14formed on the working area 13 of the outer surface 12 of the golf clubhead 10 according to the preferred embodiment of this invention. In FIG.6, the depression unit 14 is in the form of a back cavity in the golfclub head 10. In FIG. 7, the depression unit 14 is in the form ofEnglish characters.

With the inclusion of the sandblasting techniques in the method of thisinvention for surface treating the golf club head 10, the aforesaiddrawbacks associated with the prior art can be eliminated.

While the present invention has been described in connection with whatis considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isunderstood that this invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included withinthe spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompassall such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

1. A method for surface treating a golf club head, comprising: (a)forming a depression unit in the golf club head, the depression unitbeing indented inwardly from an outer surface of the golf club head,said outer surface being divided into a working area and a non-workingarea, said depression unit being formed in said working area; (b)filling the depression unit with a shielding material and covering saidnon-working area with a covering material; and (c) sandblasting the golfclub head after step (b) and removing subsequently the shieldingmaterial from the depression unit and the covering material from saidnon-working area so as to form the working area into sandblasted andnon-sandblasted regions that differ in gloss intensity.
 2. The method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the shielding material is selected from thegroup consisting of waxes, silicones, resins, gypsum, paints, andplastics.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shieldingmaterial is a wax having a melting point ranging from 40 to 60° C.